Oslo Bomb Scare – Teen Asylum-Seeker Arrested

Subway bombing in St. Petersburg. Chemical attack in Syria. Truck plowing into people in Sweden. Israeli soldier killed in West Bank car attack. Bomb found near a subway station in Norway. Two bomb attacks on Coptic Churches in Egypt. What a week. What do they all have in common?

A 17-year-old asylum-seeker from Russia was arrested Sunday in connection with an explosive device found near a busy subway station in Norway’s capital that police defused before it detonated, authorities said.

The youth was detained on suspicion of handling explosives, but investigators do not know if he planned to carry out an attack with the homemade device, Signe Aaling, chief prosecutor for Norway’s PST security service, said.

“PST is now working on finding his intentions and find out whether others are involved,” she said.

The youth was not identified, but security service head Benedicte Bjornland said Norwegian intelligence was aware of him. He is an asylum-seeker from Russia who arrived in Norway with his family in 2010, Bjornland said.

Bjornland also alleged that the youth was part of “extreme Islamism” circles in Norway. He was arrested based on a tip from the public, Bjornland said without elaborating. NYDailyNews

After Friday’s terrorist attack in Stockholm police in Norway have rearmed.

Norway’s state police began rearming themselves on Friday afternoon after Stockholm was hit by a terrorist attack that left at least four people dead and 15 injured, nine of them seriously. The attacker drove a stolen truck down a pedestrian street and into the large and busy Åhlens City shopping center in the heart of downtown.

The attack shocked Scandinavians and prompted Norway’s police intelligence unit PST (Politiets sikkerhetstjeneste) to immediately re-evaluate the threat level in Norway, which is on the verge of its traditional Easter holiday week. Norwegian leaders denounced the attack and sent their condolences. NewInEnglish